Hatamiya stands up to defense

Paul Taylor, who spent the second half of Tuesday demoralizing economist Andrew Zimbalist, couldn’t do the same with Lon Hatamiya, who insisted that his economic study on the Sonics was significant and well-researched

Some key points:

*Clay Bennett’s $171 million potential economic impact was meant for state of Oklahoma, not just Oklahoma City

*Hatamiya said Sonics fans will save their money they would have spent on the team.

Taylor asks whether the money would, “Go into a tin can in the backyard or wherever?” and Hatamiya said that may be the buyer’s choice.

*Hatamiya admits he did not research the economic impact of all sports teams in King County

*Taylor points out to Hatamiya that the Seattle city council staff — notably Nick Licata — told the city council that is “no measurable impact from a local sports team on the local economy.”

*Taylor asks Hatamiya whether he has a PhD and calls him “professor” and then corrects himself. Taylor attempted to challenge Hatamiya’s economic credentials and Hatamiya withstood the criticism and held strong

*Taylor tries to prove that the Sonics dollar, if the team leaves, will be spent in other sports amenities, Hatamiya refused to agree, saying there is no guarantee that Sonics fans are necessarily Mariners or Seahawks fans

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Is a defense graphic showing that the Sonics payroll is 1/1000th of the Seattle’s total payroll — Hatamiya refuses to admit those numbers are true. “I have not done that research, you are trying to get me to agree with a study that is not mine,” he said to Taylor

*Hatamiya said this his fifth economic study of an impact on a community, the previous four were for WalMart

*He also testified in the Anaheim Angels case, the same one that Taylor barbequed Zimbalist on Tuesday. Hatamiya said in his study that more people were checking into Anaheim hotels because the team changed its name to the Los Angeles of Anaheim. Taylor attempted to challenge that assessment and Hatamiya stood by his study

*Hatamiya admits he made no investigation of where the Sonics money is spent, he just estimated

*When asked by Taylor whether he studied the spending patterns of a basketball team, Hatamiya said, “Only in this instance.”

In his re-direct by Jeffrey Johnson

Hatamiya said he was a former Sacramento Kings season-ticket holder but then “After I had children, I stopped spending money on the Kings. I saved it.”

And when Johnson asked whether the Sonics dollar is guaranteed to be spent in the community, Hatamiya responded, “When you asked museum directors, I don’t think they would say their expenditures were going up (recently because of the Sonics losses).”

*And for the first time during the trial, Judge Marsha Pechman asked a witness a question. She asked Hatamiya whether his study can work regardless of the business.

“Nothing unique about the type of business,” he said. “You just have to be able to interpret the type of expenditures.”